You have to be tough to live in Maine

Well, it has been snowing and snowing and snowing… Today though- there are bright blue skies and WIND- lots and lots of wind. The windchill is hovering around -18. Gracie isn’t bothered by it at all- so getting her to come in out of the cold is a challenge. She is a good Maine dog.

Snow-covered trees

Mt Washington can be seen from my area. It is about a 1 hour car drive over and through the mts. As I looked at their weather site this morning I saw that the top had -66 degree windchill, 98 mph wind gusts and a low of -19.4 (without the wind chill factored in). Tough spot- but beautiful none the less.

It’s the end of February folks- but on the bright side the snow is gorgeous! I admit to wanting to just cry because I had to push more snow up ( yes up) a hill that we have made to get it off our deck. My arms ache from the work.

The gear you might need

It occurred to me that we have to be prepared for every event. Four pairs of boots are on hand every day- just to be able to get into town or go outside with Gracie. Several weight jackets and coats, several weights of wool socks- (what would I do without Smartwool?), several styles of mittens and hats.

My current go to for hand warmth is a wool mitten used as a liner with an overmitt that is made from a waterproof material. So in thinking about all of this gear I am reminded that it is expensive to live where we do. The fuel bills have been very high this winter and we keep our home on the cool side. The plowing? yup- way up too. We even had to have an excavator come and relocate some of the snow from our driveway so the plow guy would have places to put the new snow.

Then come the basic tools- snow shovels- we have several – snow scoops- we have broken some but currently have 2 that are in constant use- a roof rake, again- we have 2 of those AND we have someone that plows for us. We have several roofs to keep cleared and 4 walkways to clear with each storm. Did I mention the studded snow tires that I need?

Lucy in the pulk sled

There is the fun stuff- the snowshoes, skates, the ski boots, skis, snow-tubes, sleds, etc. If you are going to survive winter you may as well make it fun! Lucy just waking from her sleep in the car to be put into a pulk so Sarah could pull her while we skied.

Gracie loves the snow

Snowshoe paths for Gracie are essential for her to scoot around on. If you happen to go out and step off this packed path you literally go up to your hip in the softer snow. I have been diligent about packing these paths with each storm but am a bit behind with the past two storms. They came together rather close and I just couldn’t keep up. I have gotten the yard paths sorted but the woods paths are still a work in progress.

Gracie – devil dog?

Winter preferred over summer

I have realized that I spend much more time outside in the winter than in the summer. I may complain about the cold from time to time but I really am bothered by the heat and sun. Having more than my share of skin issues and surgeries from skin cancers the summer sun is not really my friend. Plus- there aren’t any bugs in the winter- hooray! the only thing biting is the cold bite of the wind on my fingers, cheeks and toes and I can deal with that just fine thank you.

A Barred owl resting on the bird feeder

I can reach the bird feeders right now without a ladder too. We erected a system last summer to try to keep the bears away by putting them up quite high. It seemed to work- let’s see what happens this year. The bears will be hungry when they wake up.

Gracie- Queen of her mountain

Fun rugs for spring

So – we march on with this winter- I’ll continue to enjoy the beauty of the white covered trees and fields and the quiet of the woods as we tromp through the paths. Gracie will continue to enjoy the snow- her hill that she perches on to chew whatever she finds that has blown down from the trees. Spring IS coming- sometime…. The spring rugs are coming out and being listed in the ESTY shop. Hop on over if you want to see them and add them to your home for a bit of color.